blanchAudio Help (blānch) Pronunciation Key
v.
blanched also blenched, blanch·ing also blench·ing, blanch·es also blench·es
v.
tr.
To take the color from; bleach.
To whiten (a growing plant or plant part) by covering to cut off direct light.
To whiten (a metal) by soaking in acid or by coating with tin.
To scald (almonds, for example) in order to loosen the skin.
To scald (food) briefly, as before freezing or as a preliminary stage in preparing a dish.
To cause to turn white or become pale.
v.
intr.
To turn white or become pale: Their faces blanched in terror.
[Middle English blaunchen, to make white, from Old French blanchir, from blanche, feminine of blanc, white, of Germanic origin; see bhel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
1398, from O.Fr. blanchir "to whiten," from blanc "white" (see blank). Originally "to remove the hull of (almonds, etc.) by soaking." Intrans. sense of "to turn white" is from 1768.
Blanch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blanched; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanching.] [OE. blanchen, blaunchen, F. blanchir, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a.]1. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach; as, to blanch linen; age has blanched his hair. 2. (Gardening) To bleach by excluding the light, as the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together. 3. (Confectionery & Cookery) (a) To make white by removing the skin of, as by scalding; as, to blanch almonds. (b) To whiten, as the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices. 4. To give a white luster to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining.). 5. To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin. 6. Fig.: To whiten; to give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to palliate. Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things. --Tillotson. Syn: To Blanch, Whiten. Usage: To whiten is the generic term, denoting, to render white; as, to whiten the walls of a room. Usually (though not of necessity) this is supposed to be done by placing some white coloring matter in or upon the surface of the object in question. To blanch is to whiten by the removal of coloring matter; as, to blanch linen. So the cheek is blanched by fear, i. e., by the withdrawal of the blood, which leaves it white.
Blanch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blanched; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanching.] [OE. blanchen, blaunchen, F. blanchir, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a.]1. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach; as, to blanch linen; age has blanched his hair. 2. (Gardening) To bleach by excluding the light, as the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together. 3. (Confectionery & Cookery) (a) To make white by removing the skin of, as by scalding; as, to blanch almonds. (b) To whiten, as the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices. 4. To give a white luster to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining.). 5. To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin. 6. Fig.: To whiten; to give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to palliate. Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things. --Tillotson. Syn: To Blanch, Whiten. Usage: To whiten is the generic term, denoting, to render white; as, to whiten the walls of a room. Usually (though not of necessity) this is supposed to be done by placing some white coloring matter in or upon the surface of the object in question. To blanch is to whiten by the removal of coloring matter; as, to blanch linen. So the cheek is blanched by fear, i. e., by the withdrawal of the blood, which leaves it white.
Blanch\, v. t. [See Blench.]1. To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed. [Obs.] Ifs and ands to qualify the words of treason, whereby every man might express his malice and blanch his danger. --Bacon. I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way. --Reliq. Wot. 2. To cause to turn aside or back; as, to blanch a deer.
Blank\, a. [OE. blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, fr. F. blanc, fem. blanche, fr. OHG. blanch shining, bright, white, G. blank; akin to E. blink, cf. also AS. blanc white. ?98. See Blink, and cf. 1st Blanch.]1. Of a white or pale color; without color. To the blank moon Her office they prescribed. --Milton. 2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in with some special writing; -- said of checks, official documents, etc.; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot. 3. Utterly confounded or discomfited. Adam . . . astonied stood, and blank. --Milton. 4. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space; a blank day. 5. Lacking characteristics which give variety; as, a blank desert; a blank wall; destitute of interests, affections, hopes, etc.; as, to live a blank existence; destitute of sensations; as, blank unconsciousness. 6. Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.; expressionless; vacant. "Blank and horror-stricken faces." --C. Kingsley. The blank . . . glance of a half returned consciousness. --G. Eliot. 7. Absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror. Blank bar (Law), a plea put in to oblige the plaintiff in an action of trespass to assign the certain place where the trespass was committed; -- called also common bar. Blank cartridge, a cartridge containing no ball. Blank deed. See Deed. Blank door, or Blank window (Arch.), a depression in a wall of the size of a door or window, either for symmetrical effect, or for the more convenient insertion of a door or window at a future time, should it be needed. Blank indorsement (Law), an indorsement which omits the name of the person in whose favor it is made; it is usually made by simply writing the name of the indorser on the back of the bill. Blank line (Print.), a vacant space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats. Blank tire (Mech.), a tire without a flange. Blank tooling. See Blind tooling, under Blind. Blank verse. See under Verse. Blank wall, a wall in which there is no opening; a dead wall.
Blank\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blanked; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanking.] [Cf. 3d Blanch.]1. To make void; to annul. [Obs.] --Spenser. 2. To blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits of; to dispirit or confuse. [Obs.] Each opposite that blanks the face of joy. --Shak.
Blench\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blenched; p. pr. & vb. n. Blenching.] [OE. blenchen to blench, elude, deceive, AS. blencan to deceive; akin to Icel. blekkja to impose upon. Prop. a causative of blink to make to wink, to deceive. See Blink, and cf. 3d Blanch.]1. To shrink; to start back; to draw back, from lack of courage or resolution; to flinch; to quail. Blench not at thy chosen lot. --Bryant. This painful, heroic task he undertook, and never blenched from its fulfillment. --Jeffrey. 2. To fly off; to turn aside. [Obs.] Though sometimes you do blench from this to that. --Shak.
Whit"en\, v. t. To make white; to bleach; to blanch; to whitewash; as, to whiten a wall; to whiten cloth. The broad stream of the Foyle then whitened by vast flocks of wild swans. --Macaulay. Syn: See Blanch.
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Audio Help [blanch, blahnch] Pronunciation Key 
